


coffee break

by handyhunter



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-16 21:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handyhunter/pseuds/handyhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That AU where Sally Donovan transfers into Gregson's department and is partners with Bell. And she and Joan hit it off. (When Joan's not hooking up with Kalinda, of course.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	coffee break

Joan sipped her coffee carefully and made a face. It was too sweet. Sally was frowning at her coffee cup too. How everyone liked their coffee must be another one of those details Sherlock chose not to store in his 'mind attic', or on a piece of paper, even though he'd offered to buy this round. A quick glance in the rear-view mirror confirmed that he had made his way back to the second car, where Bell and Gregson were waiting for their coffees.

"He didn't put anything in these, did he?" Sally asked Joan.

Joan shook her head. "Just too much sugar." She was reasonably sure Sherlock wouldn't do something like that, especially when it wouldn't lead to anything of value for him and would land him in a whole lot of trouble with her.

"Mine doesn't have any. Want to swap?"

"Sure." She tried Sally's coffee. "Much better." And then a moment later, she asked, "Why does he bother you so much?" 

Sally flipped on the car heater. "For starters, it was past midnight when he started playing the violin."

It had been a lively piece, certain to wake the neighbours as well, not that Joan recalled Sally complaining at the time, but then they had been otherwise occupied. "Is that all?" Joan asked, a little bit teasingly.

In the short time since they were first introduced, Sally had always been forthright and this conversation was no exception. Sally's tone was serious when she answered. "I don't know anything about the nature of your relationship with him, except that you're probably not sleeping with him, but from where I stand, it looks a lot like an unbalanced friendship to me." Sally drummed a finger on the steering wheel, waiting for Joan's reply.

It was because she and Holmes _weren't_ friends, not strictly anyway. "He pays very well for my...assistance." Or, rather, his father did, but Sally didn't need to know the details  
.  
"Do you get anything else out of it?"

Joan shrugged. It was her job. She didn't have to like him to help him; she would've thought police officers could understand that. "What he does is interesting."

"What he does is _my_ job," Sally grumbled. "If he wants to play detective, he should sign up with the academy and go through the ranks like everyone else."

Joan turned an inquiring look Sally's way. "So this isn't about me. It's about professional jealousy." 

"Maybe," Sally allowed. "He still treats you like crap, though."

Joan didn't deny it, irksome as it was that so many people were quick to tell her how to manage her life. First, her mother, then Ty and now Sally, but at least Sally was concerned about her relationship with Holmes, specifically, rather than her current profession in the general sense of why-are-you-not-a-doctor-anymore. "I can handle him."

"You must not live with him all the time, though," said Sally, thoughtfully.

"What makes you say that?"

"You don't have any furniture and your tiny suitcase wasn't well-hidden."

"I almost forgot I invited a detective back to my room," said Joan, watching Sally watch the house they were staking out. "Are you asking to sleep over at my place?"

"Or you can come to mine," said Sally. "Not that I have much more furniture than you do, at the moment."

"Well, Detective, if you need help unpacking, you know where to find me."

Sally's expression softened, a smile hinting at the corners of her mouth. "I have IKEA furniture to assemble."

Joan grinned. "All right. You can assemble and I will provide moral support."

"That's all?"

"I'll bring take-out too. What kind of food do you like?"


End file.
